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By Kate Fowler
Internet Culture & Trends Reporter
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One cat's hilariously different behavior from its big cat relatives has gained it online fame, after racking up views in the millions.
Sherlock first entertained his owner with his timid habit and he has now fascinated over 1.3 million online. Unlike his distant feline relatives, Sherlock is far from a confrontational type and instead hides in a cupboard whenever someone knocks on the door.
"When you're closely related to apex predators, but do this whenever someone comes to the door," wrote his owner on-screen. Sherlock was captured darting from the door to the cupboard, before opening it and climbing his way in to hide.
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The video is part of a growing TikTok trend of owners sharing hilarious videos of their pets, comparing the things they do to the extremely different behavior of their ancestors.
House cats are related to lions, tigers and jaguars, and they all come from the same family of animals: the Felidae family. According to the Cats Protection organization, they first began to evolve around 25 million years ago.
"The oldest cat lineage is the Panthera, which split from its common ancestor 10.8 million years ago. This is the line our modern day big cats, such as tigers (Panthera tigris), panthers (Panthera pardus) and lions (Panthera leo), have evolved from," it reported.
"The Felidae family continued to evolve and branch off into different common ancestors until 3.4 million years ago when the Felis genus appeared. This group includes the wildcat (Felis silvestis), the jungle cat (Felis chaus) and our own domestic cats (Felis catus)."
Despite sharing an estimated 95.6 percent of their DNA, our loved domesticated cats don't exactly act just like their relatives. Just like Sherlock, cats regularly take themselves into enclosed hiding places, with differing reports on exactly why they do it.
For some, cats simply enjoy being in enclosed spaces, while others say they hide "when there is something, or someone, nearby that is causing them concern. They may be frightened or just wary about something unfamiliar and might want to keep out of the way, just in case," according to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Despite the behavior being common, Sherlock's love of hiding has sparked joy online as TikTok users rushed to the comments.
"After 15 years, mine now freezes in place instead of hiding," wrote one user.
"I thought I lost my cat the first time one of mine went into my kitchen cupboard," added another.
"I do the same thing. It's okay," joked another TikTok user.
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